100,000 Miles 100,000 Memories

On a recent road trip, my car reached 100,000 miles. I am a bit sentimental about such things. A couple years ago I burnt up a mixer around Christmas time making divinity. The mixer was a wedding gift and it had traveled the country with us. I wasn't sad that the mixer died. I was just thinking about all the memories.

I've probably mentioned my love of road trips and my tendency to be a bit of a control freak. Those two things combined mean I am the one who has driven most of those 100,000 miles.

The story of this trip began right before Aaron was born. We were a one car family and had a black Saturn we had purchased the first year we were married. We were living in California and P.K. had to go to San Diego for some medical tests. He, Rachel and I piled into our little Saturn for the trip. Rachel would have been about 18 months old so there was a lot of baby gear to pack for an overnight trip. By the time we loaded everything in that car, there was room for the three of us to sit and that was it. I mentioned to P.K. that if we were ever to take a trip after the new baby came we would have to have a larger vehicle. The Saturn had many, many miles on it at the time as well. It had made many trips between Boston and Evansville, Evansville and St. Louis and of course the cross country drive to California.

We began our search for a mom-mobile and purchased a used minivan from another officer on base. Lemon from the beginning, but it lasted until after Hannah was born. It was a four cylinder. Any major shopping had to be done "down the hill." Which is what you had to drive to get down to Palm Desert, Palm Springs, etc. If I got behind a slow moving vehicle coming back up the hill, I couldn't get past 35 miles an hour. The van really needed a good running start.

We actually brought Aaron home from the hospital in the van. I remember Rachel running out to meet us and I thought she was excited to see me. She ran right past me and climbed up into that van to find baby "An-non."

The van was not running correctly and I tried my best to convince the mechanics on base that something was wrong. They assured me it was fine. After Hannah was born, I took a road trip up to Monterey to visit my friend who was stationed there. I had a weird light on almost the entire trip. I was sure the van was going to die while I was in the middle of nowhere with an infant, two year old and four year old. When I got back, P.K. took the van in and I was right. There were some major problems that were going to cost thousands of dollars to fix. P.K. called me and and said, "We are getting you a new car. Choose what you want because you are going to drive it for ten years." No problem! I knew what I wanted. A Ford Expedition with a factory installed DVD player. Nothing more, nothing less.

Just after Christmas we made one more trip "down the hill" in the van and traded it in for a gold 2004 Ford Expedition with a factory installed DVD player. We (the Expedition and I) have been in love ever since.

We have criss-crossed the country together. California to Virginia, Florida to Wisconsin. I have crammed in friends and their kids for many fun outings. I have listened to Barney, Dora, Bibleman and High School Musical more times than any sane person should have to endure. The kids have laughed, cried and thrown up in there. The Expedition has carried us to SeaWorld, Legoland, the Grand Canyon, Florida beaches, the nation's capitol, Lake Michigan and of course took me safely to and from my half marathon. It has been to weddings and driven in funeral processions. The kids have been driven to and from school, Scouts, soccer practice, sleepovers, birthday parties, taekwondo and swimming lessons. I drove it through the blur of tears as we left 29 Palms and my heart broke. I yelled with excitement in it when my friend, Becky, called to tell me she was expecting a new baby. The kids immediately told me, "Mommy, it is not safe to yell in the car like that." It has worn a license plate from four different states. The windshield has taken rocks and been replaced three different times.

If you look deeply enough you can probably still find sand from the desert of 29 Palms. The amount of survival food (french fries and M&Ms that have dropped under seats and can't be reached, but in an emergency could be accessed somehow) in the crevices could probably sustain us for days if we are ever lost in the wilderness.

If I can squeeze another 100,000 miles and another 100,000 memories out of her, I will.

Faces Painted

Third Grade Field Trip

Aaron's class had their field trip to a science museum to learn about fossils. It was a very enjoyable trip. The day before, Aaron came home and told me his teacher let him choose the kids who would be in our group during the field trip. I have to admit my first thought was, "Great. Who did he choose?"

I have been on many field trips the past six years and because I spend a lot of time in the classroom the teacher has often said, "I put Little Johnny (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent) in your group because I know you could handle him." Little Johnny is usually the least well behaved child in the class. That means the entire field trip is spent trying to make sure Little Johnny doesn't escape or cause bodily harm to himself or anyone else.

This is Aaron with the friends he chose for our group. I am very proud to say they were all on their very best behavior. The entire third grade was awesome! I made sure I emailed Aaron's teacher and the principal to let them know how wonderful I thought the kids were.

Aaron and his buddy on the bus.

Aaron digging for fossils.

Aaron and me.

The Real Deal With the Easter Bunny

The night before Easter we got the kids tucked in bed as early as possible. The Easter Bunny still had baskets to put together and eggs to hide. Plus the Easter Bunny in this house was ready to get to bed.

Aaron left a picture for the Easter Bunny and the Easter Bunny left him a note to thank him. I know our time of Aaron "believing" is so short.

Hannah got a note. There is a close up of the note she left later in this post.

I walked upstairs and noticed Hannah was awake and writing something. I asked her why she was still awake and she said she was writing a note to the Easter Bunny. She thought there was just one Easter Bunny, but she read a book that had five Easter Bunnies, so she wanted to get the real scoop from straight from the bunny's mouth.

The note reads, "How much Easter Bunnies are there?" The red "over" is from the Easter Bunny indicating the answer which is one Easter Bunny with many helpers was on the back of the note.